Digital Texts

For my project, I chose GoogleEarth, as I thought it would be fun to experiment with interactive 3D geographical experiences. I was inspired by different e-lit projects. One was called Le Lac, by Nyasia Kadanara and was composed of videos shot around the world that could be experienced using VR technology. Le Lac used VR to engage in storytelling and immerse users in the culture and lifestyle of East Africa. It specifically focused on the lives of Nigerians, Cameroonians, and Chadians, and how the changing environment of Lake Chad and the Bono Haram insurgency affected their futures. According to a statement by the author "I was challenged with what was the best way to tell a story about a crisis that many had not heard about, with shocking statistics that sounded more like fiction than fact."

The stunning landscape and quality videos were essential to feeling completely engaged with the VR experience. For my project, I'd like to use satellite images from GoogleEarth to try and recapture some of that atmosphere. I'd like to include a variety of points that are located around the map and try to include videos and photos to make up for the cinematography that GoogleEarth lacks. I would also feature text about the locations, links to further resources, and potentially create a linear journey through the coordinate points. Another thought I had for the project was simply letting viewers select points at random, but I think I will try to give it a more structured flow; similar to how a hypertext navigation involves selecting a path and branching off from there.

Le Lac is a bit different from my overall project, as it is a virtual reality type of e-lit, but the idea of it is similar to my project design. It involves compiling information, geographical material, and image content to tell a story. Moving forward, I will likely use a digital map on GoogleEarth in a concentrated region like Lake Chad, that involves landscape shots of the area. It will be interesting to see the differences between the two.

Comments

  1. Abby T.April 16, 2023 at 2:04 PM

    Your idea sounds really cool! I was thinking of using Google Earth as well, but ended up shying away from it because my project likely won't happen at a specific place. It's really great that you're already thinking of how to overcome the hurdles that Google Earth can impose!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. MApril 18, 2023 at 10:20 AM

    Le Lac looks really cool!

    ReplyDelete

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